One often has the impression that the NY Times reporters don't read the NYT.
It's obvious that the Times wants the subway improved and this is an important need, BUT a few weeks ago there was a long article about the cost of subway work in NY, comparing it to Paris, and much to the detriment of NY. Look also at the current trial with cronies of Gov. C and the gross incompetence of the NY Mayor, and the problem becomes evident that if you come up with a plan to improve the subway in NY, it will be corrupt, exorbitant and take forever. Maybe the NYers need to get an honest and efficient government=stop voting in the same crooks!
The main problem is bad, atrocious mananagment. Managment that would rather do the big sexy thing that maintaine the systezm or clean the stations or make sure the elevators work so that disabled access could be maintained at the few stations at which it exists. Managment would rather give out a $537 million or thereabouts contract to force us all to use expensive credit card to entry the system rather than maintain a human presence at stations. The MTA is interested in high priced “leaders” doing splashy projects. They could care less about the mundane job of safely and cleanly providing transportation to their customers.
1
Further depletion of the MTA budget to bail out ski resorts for a warm winter? I know global warming is ruining my life, but THIS fact is a new animal! Yikes!
Pretty sad and also unforgivable. The politicians have a lot to answer for when it comes to New York's subway system.
My wife and I just returned from Europe where we used both the London and Paris systems extensively, and whilst both have their issues, overall they were a veritable joy to use. New York seriously needs a new renaissance for its subway system, particularly in this era of a booming city economy. New Yorkers deserve no less.
1
It is unsafe in off hours.
It is virtually free of surveillance cameras.
http://hiddenhomicides.blogspot.com/2014/10/no-cameras-no-problem.html
1
My subway lines...the 1, 2 and 3 we're working fine until 5 years ago. Then the writing time signs added a digit so that waits were 9 to 13 minutes rather than 3 to 5. Yet somehow, no-one attached this to Cuomo and D iBlasio and the latter was elected by a wide margin. If New Yorkers are at a loss to explain how the rest of the country could vote for an obvious fraud like Trump, then perhaps they can look to their own voting patterns for answers.
1
Still, that set of giant white dinosaur bones at ground zero are pretty impressive. What’s a little delay every day compared to those? Put the money where it really matters, I say.
As a New Yorker I am EXTREMELY happy that the NY Times, for once, does an expose on something that affects me every single day of my life. I love your national and international coverage. But the fact that it took you guys this long to give me a nice, short, digestible summary of what ails the subway system is a bit sad, actually.
Less fluff pieces about rich people buying beautiful apartments, working in snazzy co-working spaces or backpacking through Papua New Guinea. And more of these hard-hitting news about systems and events that affect the vast majority of New Yorkers, poor, middle-class and rich alike.
3
Well, at least New York has mass transit. In Texas, we pay lip service to half-assed mass transit. Instead, our politicians sell us out to multinational corps who are paid a lot of money to build poorly designed toll roads, like the one that runs through the middle of Austin, TX, and then raise the fees whenever they want. And then the Texas Department of Transportation claims they are doing us a huge favor.
1
How did the subway get so bad? Does anybody out there remember the conditions in the 1970s? Trust those of us who do......things could be a whole lot worse! But, yes things have deteriorated .....understatement of the week....and there is plenty of blame to go around, for management and politicians both. I wish the governor - whatever governor we happen to have at any given time - would recall when speaking of state vs. city funding - that city residents are *also* state residents! The general welfare of the state is largely dependent on the welfare of the city of New York.
1
Is this even a serious question? An enterprise that's administered by government bureaucrats, and run by public unions--and you have to ask how it got so bad? It's the same question that can be asked of our public schools, or the DMV, or the IRS--with the exact same answer.
2
Where to begin. With the inflated salaries of middle and upper management? Or perhaps the pension and disability fraud? No maybe it's complacency of union workers with job guarantees? Or lack of communication? All I know is I've been staring at the same blood stain on my subway platform since September and if they can't even clean THAT how can we expect a delay free commute. I say fire every last one of the corrupt bunch. Working people deserve better.
2
As many have commented here, New York City's subway will never work well as long as the rich and powerful don't use it. Having used it for twenty-five years, the subway always confounded me. Whether it was unexplainable delays, 'show time,' the mentally-ill spitting on unsuspecting faces, announcements never made and if so, rarely understood, express train doors slamming shut as the local train doors open, the contempt for riders was evident every day. And sadly, when working, the reasonably-priced way to get around town.
1
There may not be one person to blame, and hold accountable, but I would suggest that there are five people. The District Attorneys of the five counties that make up the City of Greater New York.
The District Attorneys had, and have, a duty to bring the operation of the subway system to grand juries in their jurisdiction. Grand juries have the right to investigate anything that happens in their counties. Even if they do not find a criminal act for which a person can be charged, they can issue a Grand Jury Report which would bring matters to a head. But I would argue that there is much that has occurred under the MTA that would merit criminal charges. It is difficult to imagine that BILLIONS of dollars can disappear in accordance with the law.
On the other hand, there are simple fixes that I have mentioned previously. Signal upgrades are not the all or nothing proposition that the MTA insists on.
Capacity does not depend on new signals. A 10% increase in capacity merely needs an extra car on each train.
2
The subway system is run by the State on NY on the City.
Right, the signals could likely be upgraded in parts.
Heretofore my NYT video experience was outstanding, but the way this video was produced makes it very difficult to watch. This is MTV-style editing taken to the nth degree. Please do away with the way-over-the-top cutesy graphics and effects and just present the useful information directly and in the usual clear and clean way that NYT video does its thing.
2
...let alone miserable accommodation for disability. Love ya, Big Apple, but shame on you.
Poor training, lack of oversight, mismanagement, corruption, lack of intelligence. Money is spent on bells and whistles instead of that which will make the subway itself RUN better, where announcements and signs are not CONFUSING, CONVOLUTED OR INAUDIBLE. When there are major delays or sudden rerouting of trains, it's typically the blind leading the blind, with no MTA personnel taking charge. No one knows what is going on, passengers are looking around like 'huh?...what's going on?...is another train coming to rescue us?.... there are shuttle buses now?...so where is the 'fleet' of shuttle buses?...why are hundred still waiting for ONE shuttle bus to appear? ...what, we need to all board one by one through the front door??...what...you're not handing out transfers after we were kicked off the train?
It's an absolute disgrace. Most MTA employees have a sense of 'entitlement' and a good number are downright rude. Go to Japan, and their subway employees consider their jobs an 'honor'.
The problem is NOT just a supposed lack of funds, but more than anything, poor management.
3
Here is a cartoon - oh, excuse me - an animation from 1938 of Betty Boop called "Riding The Rails" --
It mainly features her little dog who gets trapped in the subway - but if you scroll ahead to about !;46 you can watch what it was like for Betty to commute to work in the New York City Subway system in 1938 --
While you're watching - take notice of the vending machine on the poll as Betty waits for her train - and also remember every movement is hand-drawn by the Fliescher Brother at their studios here in New York --
A true example of art imitating life - and how things really haven't changed that much...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXPGee5jyJs
A look at the way the Tokyo system is run should be enough to convince anyone of the way a train system should be operated. Have lived in Japan for over 30 years, I have never had a bad experience comparable to the ones New Yorkers
have had as a result of political ineptness.
1
Thank you so much for putting this together. My commute has gone from a reilable 30 minutes to mid-town10 years ago to 90-120 minutes, TWICE A DAY. It's truly awful, especially after dropping kids at school, working 10 hours and commuting home, etc. At least now I know what happened.
4
The New York unions have manipulated the situation to raise construction costs that should have gone to maintenance.
And the people of New York let them! Maybe the people of New York should blame themselves. They were not paying attention when they voted for their congressmen and governor and mayor and local officials. They have to have a louder voice than the unions clamoring for higher pay. NY residents have as much at stake as these unions. Wake up, democracies don't run themselves.
1
@Will Hogan: Why should we blame ourselves? I don't have any control over who runs the MTA; do YOU?
And if a politician misrepresents themselves, I don't vote for that person ever again, but short of my staying home and never voting again, how do you propose I discover if a politician will or won't keep their word about any given issue? On one level, of course they're all sleazy - but Cuomo takes it to a new level AND he makes it clear he is answerable to NO ONE (and certainly not to us peons!).
PS: You forgot that union members DO vote in NYC elections! Do you think they're voting against their own interests??
1
unions
1
People are getting what they deserve. A subway system ultimately run by corrupt politicians who are more concerned about buying the votes of union employees than making sure the system is run properly. Politicians who use money designed for subway capital improvements and maintenance to pay for their pet projects unrelated to the subways. Politicians appointing their friends and other hacks to senior management roles at the MTA.
13
"The ’90s were the golden era of subway functionality..."
I guess I'll show my age, because in the late 70's it was the early 60's which was the golden era of subway functionality...
5
I lived in NYC during the purported "golden era" of the subways system, and if that was a golden era, I shudder to think of what it's like now.
I probably lost 10 decibels from my hearing threshold waiting on train platforms suffering the ear-splitting noise; the smells; being accosted by angry blacks; delays; train operators smoking crack while working...
From the top you have uncaring bureaucrats who never ride the subways anyway, and from below you have rude, apathetic station agents confident that their union will shield them from any disciplinary action.
My heart goes out to the NYC subway commuters.
19
The Times recently reported that to construct a mile of subway track in New York costs 400% more than in London, Paris and other major cities - and revealed the corrupt practices of no-show jobs, competitive bidding systems without, it appears, real competition - in short typical New York State and City clubhouse politics featuring corrupt unions, politicians, business people and bureaucrats across the political spectrum.
Add to that the truism that in New York the private institutions - schools, hospitals, clubs, and other services - are generally world class, while our public spaces and experiences , especially those built since the end of WWII - are the stuff of developing countries: the Port Authority Bus Terminal (the Port Authority as an institution is a cradle of incompetence), Penn Station, Laguardia Airport (who knows when its renovation will be complete), our trash-strewn streets - and, of course, the subway, whose long demise has now reached a nadir of unreliable, unpleasant service.
Until a party, a politician or activists drive this campaign issue as paramount for city voters in state elections, especially for the governor, I fear there will be little progress. I would also advocate for a team of forensic accountants and prosecutors to perform an ongoing audit of the Port Authority and subway operations to root out corruption, graft and waste.
13
Excellent post.
Unfortunately, a politician in New York running on this issue would be akin to a politician running in Oklahoma on the promise to outlaw guns. It would be political suicide. However, the new tax plan may make people rethink their position before it's too late.
I agree with you, but am not wildly optimistic about people taking action. (I didn't register as an independent voter until I moved to New York, where I felt I had no other alternative since both parties seemed so corrupt.)
However, I do think one of the reasons people are more up in arms about the subway than they seem to have been in the past is that, unlike in the past, more of the people coming into New York are younger (if not young) people coming from Europe and other parts of the US where things work better. I think this is one of the reasons for all the fuss about the proposed temporary shutdown of the L line and the unwillingness of people who live on that line to accept the alternatives offered by the MTA. Thirty or 40 years ago the people riding that line were more local and blue collar with less knowledge of how things could work. And maybe they had relatives in the unions that would do the construction, so they may have seen something like that as good for them. Now many of the people in those Brooklyn neighborhoods come from outside NY, make good money in law, finance or media, and have no relatives in unions that will benefit from the work. Further, they have been to cities where things work better -- whether it's Singapore, Stockhom or Salt Lake City -- and aren't inclined to put up with this
Was recently talking to someone who owns his place near Prospect Park in Brooklyn & is thinking of moving to Westchester, his subway commute is so terrible.
Now technically that article you reference was about an LIRR track.
Also the Times ignored the savings the French get from having strong nationwide single payer medical insurance and paid time off laws.
So like that Times "reporting" you're omitting massively import facts.
NYTimes reported on the bond issuance practice and it ended shortly thereafter. Nice job, but why did the paper wait so long? It seems that NYT ignored the subway problem for decades just like the politicians.
7
Could it be that Brooklyn developments, residential, decline in value with worse and worse subway service to various parts of Brooklyn? Yeah, even if the primary owner of the residential unit can afford to drive or Uber around town.
Possibly the stupidest thing these people could have done in the last year is to decide to go back to some 'human' public announcements. The automated announcements were clear and succinct, if not always explanatory. However, the humans are ALWAYS unintelligible, and it sounds like an old Saturday Night Live skit. Awful. GET IT TOGETHER, MTA!!!
8
Why no mention of the fraud, waste, abuse, and criminality that contributed?
TA construction manager getting 46 months in federal prison for bribery in overseeing millions in TA construction contracts: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ex-mta-manager-4-years-pri...
This is just the tip of the iceberg....
The criminals must be ferreted out before BILLIONS more are spent.
Congestion pricing to pour money into a hole in the ground is not the fix either. Mayor Bloomberg set in motion making Manhattan a gated community for the affluent (like NYT readership skews) https://imgs.6sqft.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13020818/esri-comparis...
Making bike lanes for commuting; more subway line-real estate development connections in Manhattan (UWS, Hudson Yds); generally mallification of Manhattan.
This benefits Manhattanites directly.
Forget congestion pricing, surcharges for Manhattan incomes / households over 200K is needed. The top 5% of Manhattanites make over 860K. 1% surcharge of households >200K is >1B a year.
Limit Uber and Yellow to a max of 13K vehicles each on the street at any time (Uber says it had 100K vehicles). Manhattan deliveries between 10pm-4am, otherwise $25 per axle per hour. Manhattanites can absorb the price increase if they do not want the overnight noise.
Make a real change, with equity, for once.
9
Right, taxes on high incomes are part of the answer. Not just taxes on Manhattan residents making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That corruption conviction is amazing, amazing that the guy was dumb enough to use companies and checks.
Right there need to be limits on internet hailed cars like Uber, and they need to be regulated like taxis. Both taxis and Uber need to pay drivers better too.
Deliveries can't be limited that way in Manhattan for the simple reason that small retailers can't be taking in stock at midnight.
1
More taxes and regulation. Yep that's the answer.
So goes the subway, so goes New York City. So goes New York City, so goes the economy of the area. So goes the economy of the area, so goes the politics of the United States.
3
Bloomberg used to brag about how the subways were running like clockwork. And indeed they were. I never had to wait more than five minutes for a train even midday. As soon as DeBlasio took office there was an immediate very noticeable slowdown in service. There is no real crisis. It is all political. His opponent Joe Lhota is now in charge of the MTA for goodness sakes.
2
Bloomberg was driven to an express stop from his mansion. He then took that express train 3 stops to City Hall. (Yes, it's 3 stops from on the east side IRT from 59th street to Brooklyn Bridge.) Bloomberg's tune would have been real different if he regularly tried to take the 6 train.
Also neither DeBlasio nor Bloomberg has anything do with the day to day running of the subways. They were/are mayors, not the governor.
"There is no real crisis. It is all political."
That's a delusion.
1
At least Bloomberg got on the train, DeBlasio takes a caravan of SUVs to his old gym.
new york does not have any real competition in its political life because of cults of personality, family dynasties and open corruption. pay to play was invented in Albany and it still goes on, even with the press reporting on it openly. divide in conquer pitting ethnic communities against eachother pointlessly is widely considered acceptable. but the real elephant in the room is CLASS. the rich who have gotten so much richer in the 20th century, and own all of our politicians, really do look down upon everyone who has to take the subway everyday. you could not find a more condescending group of Mr. Burns imitations with less local pride for their city than the old families on the Upper East Side, their Jarvanka children who live on the Upper West side and whom only ever take a car across the park, as none of them work for a living and need to communte. The little people have never been so small. Theyve been given the transit System their betters think they deserve.
5
I remember back in the mid 1970s how the delays were one of the things that made me leave NYC. I also remember Mike Quill and his union wrecking havoc with people regarding his strikes on New Years Eve. I believe the negotiations were changed to about March. I moved to San Francisco and riding on subways and BART was so different - always on time and not overcrowded. New York City is a great place but just too overcrowded with terrible transportation.
2
Glad to see you not let up on this - but...
Last time you ran a piece on this topic, the number of comments purporting to justify sky-high salaries and overstaffing. - using arguments from NYC cost of living to having won the jobs competitively - were astounding...
So let's look, from riders' - and payers' - point of view...
Metro NYC rail - in this very NYT...
*ttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21lirr.html
"...Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement...
*ttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/nyregion/train-crash-sleep-apnea.html
"...The safety board officially concluded that the engineers’ fatigue and their employers’ failure to screen for sleep apnea caused the two similar crashes — one in Hoboken in late 2016 that killed one person and another in Brooklyn three months later...
Doesn't cover this one...
*ttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/nyregion/no-charges-for-engineer-in-2013-fatal-metro-north-derailment.html
"..The engineer...who was later found to have obstructive sleep apnea, nodded off as the train approached one of the sharpest curves in the region’s rail system at 82 miles per hour
Filth, by comparison, is mundane...
*ttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/nyregion/07stations.html
"...worst stations had decrepit conditions, including water damage, exposed wires, rodents, foul odors, clogged track drains and general filth...
If anything, has gotten worse...
2
You need to not imply that all of your links are NYC subway stories.
You do know the difference between the MTA (which runs the subways, the LIRR and MetroNorth) and New Jersey Transit?
Where did the money go? Has everyone forgotten this from 2008? " Depfa’s shaky finances are also threatening the budget of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), New York City’s public transit system. As investors dumped MTA bonds on the fears that Depfa, which was backing $200 million of the MTA’s $3.75 billion in variable-rate debt, would get into worse financial straits, the MTA “now faces a $900 million shortfall,” writes The New York Times.
The Toronto Transit Commission was a mess before they lured away a guy who had solved the same problem for the Australians....who had lured him from the UK. NYC lured him from the TTC a few months ago to do the same thing so listen for that lovey Brit accent over the loudspeakers!
2
Politicians at fault, simple.
2
About 15 years ago I commuted to 40th St. and 6th Avenue for work every day. The four exit stairs were renovated during that time, one at a time. Each staircase took 6 months to do. Seriously, a full half a year per staircase.
13
The 1 train always seemed immune to the problems of other lines but recently there have been increasing hardware failures, switch problems, track replacements, and others delays. The train runs in a straight line from 242nd Street to South Ferry. Why is that so difficult?
Getting to a movie in Manhattan on the 1 train weekends often means shuttle buses and the A train which is too often running as a local. Often the C train moves faster than the A Express on parallel tracks. Why?
8
Heat, and tons of pressure, stress and degrade steel over decades.
I cannot imagine living in NYC with sub-par public transportation. My years there in the 90s/aughts were predicated on efficient transportation.
7
That's exactly the period I lived there, and the subway was one of my favorite things about the city. Getting around was so quick and easy. I still have many, many friends living in NYC and, from their plentiful stories and news reports, it sounds like the subway has become a very unpleasant part of the New York experience.
3
@Raymond: I've lived in NYC my entire life, and the subway (even in the "bad old days" of the late 70's/early 80's) was a great way to get around.
Now, though, given the incompetence of the MTA in general, plus the incredible number of additional people who are living in NYC, using the subway (and the buses, too) has become a miserable experience.
It's all stunningly overcrowded and badly managed. IMO, people in general have become more selfish (so many SUV-size strollers), and less willing to follow rules or use common sense (e.g., let people get OUT of the subway car before the waiting passengers on the platform surge forward & block the doorways).
Public transit nowadays is largely "every person for him/her self". This is very unfortunate. I've always extolled the subway system as an example of how great NYC is & how great New Yorkers are, but not anymore!
The only way living here makes sense to me NOW is if I can walk to where I'm going.
1
"The ’90s were the golden era of subway functionality — Gov. George Pataki even called it “a transit Renaissance.” But then, the city started to take the system for granted.
Mayors and governors began diverting their budgets away from the M.T.A. and toward other priorities, then blamed one another for the problems that followed."
Well, no specifically Governor Pataki diverted massive funds away from the MTA--mayor Giuliani less so. Also "the city" took the system for granted? The MTA is run by the state. Then yes, like a good Republican Pataki ran up the debts of the MTA.
So more less than thorough subway reporting in the NY Times. And where was the NY Times subway reporting say in 2006? Or 2010?
7
I hate the NYC subways. Every time I buy a metrocard, it never works and the person in the booth is useless.
9
When swiping a MetroCard at a turnstile to enter the subway system: Hold the MetroCard with 2 fingers only; thumb directly opposite index finger.
In other words, do NOT bend the card when swiping.
I'm surprised you could find someone in station booth.
My commute includes Fulton Street, and the way this station was rebuilt really bothers me. It seems as though the design for the station was done without the most basic investigation of how people interact with transit systems. There are huge amounts of empty space in the concourse serving vendors (that appear under utilized). At the same time, the way the stairways were built, there is almost no room on the platforms, and it's impossible for entering and exiting passengers to move out of each others' way; at rush hour, people are almost falling off the A/C platforms for lack of anywhere to stand; the station is divided into zones, with doors that block passenger flow. The doors at the entrance/exits of the complex are too heavy anyone but reasonably strong adults to open. Elderly people or weaker/frailer people can't get in and out of the station by themselves. Etc, etc. They skylight and spiral stairway to Shake Shack are nice. But otherwise it's
Incredibly dysfunctional architecture. A waste of $1 billion.
37
They probably thought they were building a modern roman Colosseum, good for tourists but painful for the locals!
4
Those doors ! They're a disaster. They're set on an angle. They don't open fully. They impede the flow of people. I don't understand how those doors could possibly meet our fire and safety codes. They should just RIP them out. Those doors are worse than useless.
I still think these issues are a function of our national politics and specifically our electoral college system. If presidential candidates knew they were being elected by pure majority national vote, they would not be spending months in Iowa talking about ethanol subsidies, but would instead have to reckon with issues like this.
But instead we spend months every four years talking about... corn.
16
You got it right, thanks for the tutorial.
This is what happens when a nation enters into the world of permanent austerity. “Oh oh we must pay off the debt that nobody really expects us to pay!” “We must run this country as we run our household, even though these two things are different as night and day.” I go to Bangkok regularly where the government is building new infrastructure like crazy. Six new intra-city transit lines. A huge expansion of the international airport and a refurbishment of the old airport (now the province of low cost airlines). There are new train stations to serve new inter-city lines. And the Chinese are helping plan and build high-speed rail service from China’s border to Bangkok. Thailand is also slowly expanding its national health-care network and improving education. And it has pretty much eradicated extreme poverty. This is what’s called investment and it pays dividends. What the US is doing is called “suicide” and it results in national death.
18
Costs are insanely inflated.
Every project costs multiples of what it should.
So we can't stretch the budget to actually improve the system.
15
"So we can't stretch the budget to actually improve the system."
And yet, when there was more money devote to subways in the 1990s, the service was much much better, and trains broke down less often.
2
The Times' recent article pointing out that it costs twelve times the amount to build a mile of subway in New York than it does in Paris is as far as you have to look for the answer. It is public sector unions that are the problem. How else can you explain 200 out of 900 workers on a project each making $1,000 a day that were not performing any function?
19
Wrong in every particular. First, NY is much denser than Paris, with much more subsurface utility interference, and much more of the Paris metro is on elevated structures. As a result, it's inherently more expensive to maintain or re-build NY subways. Second, the labor involved in rebuilding is nearly all private-sector, not public sector labor. There is featherbedding and other issues with cost inflation in construction, but this is not a function of public sector unions. MTA designs, requirements, and project governance are overly prescriptive and dictate excessive contractor staffing. MTA project managers let contractors walk all over them. There is also a lack of competitiveness and a tendency toward cartel-like behavior within the NYC general contracting world. Those are the issues, not unionized MTA workers. MTA labor-contract work rules and featherbedding have impacts, but they are small compared to these other factors.
19
My bad. I should have written "unions" not "public sector unions" as all unions are the problem.
Public sector unions are the bigger culprit in the day-to-day costs of running the MTA. An example being the conductor (ticket puncher) on the Metro North that earned approximately $250,000 in 2015. With the impending Janus decision from the SCOTUS, things should get better in the future.
5
"It is public sector unions that are the problem."
Those were private sector unions the Times was going on about building an expensive tunnel for the LIRR, not the NYC Transit system--albeit yes both are part of the MTA.
Did you not read the Times reporting you cited?
Also, that specific Times article you mischaracterized completely ignored the significant savings built into the contracts for the Paris system because France has nationwide single payer medical and nationwide paid vacation and paid sick time laws. So you're not working for your benefits on a union job in Paris--those "benefits" are part of the system anywhere in France.
3
Contractors who have no incentive to do quality work. Instead they do shoddy work and get rehired time and again to fix their previous work. A governor who wants art and tapestry in a $4+ billion line extension, rather than countdown clocks on the actual train platforms. A governor who wants to "spruce up" stations rather than to get trains on time. A system that exacerbates train delays by skipping overcrowded stations. A system that exacerbates train delays by suddenly announcing that a station is now the last stop on this train. A system that treats a malnourished woman fainting the same way that it did 40 years ago and causes massive delays along multiple lines.
11
How do you think the fainting woman should be treated?
2
@older: And a bus system that keeps re-routing buses after you're on them to that.
One particularly annoying (and ongoing) example is the buses on Lexington Avenue: it doesn't matter if it's a local or a limited. I get on at 42nd & Lex., the bus sign SAYS it's going to 6th St./East Village. Halfway to 34th Street, an announcement says "this bus will terminate at 23rd Street" (and not at the regular 23rd St. bus stop either!). So now, no matter the weather or the time of day/night, I have to get a transfer, cross 23rd Street at my own peril, and wait for another bus - all b/c the MTA won't bother to get its act together.
And let's not even get started on the 2nd Avenue buses!
I also find that newer/young bus drivers have an unpleasant attitude, as if we, the paying riders, are an inconvenience to them. Most bus drivers I've experienced over the years have been pleasant and helpful (though there is always a rotten one here or there), but lately more & more bus drivers have spoken to me as if I'm stupid or annoying. Most recently, I was boarding a bus and asked the driver (before paying my fare) if the bus was REALLY going to a certain stop, he said "the supervisor's over there [indicating a guy hanging out inside a coffee shop]; go ask him!" That's an attitude problem and a training problem, and it's totally typical of the MTA bus service these days.
2
@Yaj: EMS assess the woman's condition. If possible, remove the woman and treat her on the subway platform. Trains continue running. Only if EMS determines that the woman cannot be moved should the train be held up.
1
And what does Schumer and Gillibrand do to fix the mess? Shut down the government to protect illegal immigrants - not for funding to fix the MTA, LIRR, Metro North, LIE or I-95. What does Trump do to help his home city? Signs a bill that gives the DoD $140 billion more than Congress was prepared to spend with no strings attached - a department that has never been fully audited and each minor audit finds hundreds of millions or billions of dollars unaccounted for.
The US has the infrastructure it deserves - we can't hold our government accountable for anything.
10
Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership of allowing unions to focus on themselves versus they customers they serve have brought us to this point. You made it, now fix it. You tell us that you know how to “run a railroad” better than the other party. Let’s see. Put up or shut up. Meanwhile, my train is late again.
6
The bit about Wall Street refinancing the debt is beyond disgusting. The city gets what it deserves.
3
I will never plan a trip to Manhattan (from Brooklyn) without checked service changes before hand!
Last Friday night getting home from Lincoln Center. #1 train to 14th Street to switch to the F. Oops. F downtown not running. Take the F uptown to 34th St. Take D downtown to W4th. Go to A track to pick up the F there. - 2 hours to get home. Ugh.
16
M.
As a general rule it's best to avoid all transfers that one can--even just across the platform ones can be suspect.
You should of course, and I'm not being sarcastic, walked to Columbus Circle and taken a D or B so as to be able to yes transfer to the F at some point--or perhaps the D or the B could get you "close enough" within Brooklyn.
3
Compared to the Japanese train/subway systems the NYC MTA is sad. On time performance does matter; professionalism of the employee does matter; cleanliness does matter; updating technology does matter; in fact everything right with systems that work for the public good - yes some countries care about such things - is lacking. On a visit to NYC I took the subway for the first time and I was struck at how decrepit it was. Yes, it got me to where I needed to go but that's it. The SF Bart system on the other hand was quite good. Any system needs constant maintenance and renewal as necessary. But that goes for our bridges, roads and other infrastructure. As Americans we demand but don't want to pay; we want easy answers and blame rich people or unions which are only part of the problem.
5
"Compared to the Japanese train/subway systems the NYC MTA is sad. On time performance does matter; professionalism of the employee does matter; "
So? This was true 20 years ago too; it's not news--nor was it news 2 decades ago. What is new today in 2018 is the massive decline in NYC subway service and reliability over the last 20-25 years.
The NY Times apparently didn't notice this NYC subway system problem until some time within the last 18 months.
3
On-time performance is not the best metric. I don't care if I take 7:58 train which is running 7 minutes late, or the 8:05 train which is on-time. The important metric is station-to-station time. Of course, this is correlated with on-time performance, but it's not identical. Crowding is also a valuable metric - again, correlated with on-time performance, but not the same.
12
Political posturing, sensational landmark stations that don't address real commuting needs, and a lack of significant financial investment are the reasons.
Am I missing something?
More talk and no action. The MTA is broken - almost nobody disputes this. Spend the money - there is no way around cold hard facts.
12
How did it get so bad?
Patronage employees who have no vested interest in the workings of the system other than as a paycheck.
30
"Patronage employees who have no vested interest in the workings of the system other than as a paycheck."
Doesn't explain the Pataki cuts to the budget which were massive and have lasting detrimental effects.
2
Oh yes it does.
The cuts have passed.
Employees have been added, and retired.
Those employees still get paid. Regardless of how much work they do. Even if they do none.
matty:
Sorry, you just ignored my point completely and repeated a variation of a rant blaming employees.
"Those employees still get paid. Regardless of how much work they do. Even if they do none."
Really? Can you document that claim with facts about workers not working but being paid?
I never knew the subway system had a schedule!
13
This is typical of many government run programs. Maintenance is delayed and upgrades are deferred, all so that unions can get a bigger bite of the [big] apple. Consumption wins out over investment, as it does across the board with government.
Add the corruption endemic to any construction project in NYC (which is why Trump has to be corrupt) and you have a perfect storm destroying the subway system.
13
Perhaps by not collecting taxes from the city's gazillionaires?
Who BTW would NEVER be found taking public transport.
So why should it matter to them? Or the other political leaders who get whisked around in chauffeured Escalades and by roof top helicopters.
11
Clearly, it`s the politicians who are running it who are responsible.
And those same folks think the Government should be running your healthcare....
6
folks- take a ride on the dc metro- makes sure it isn't after 2 am- or it won't be running - make sure to leave plenty of time to get a ticket from the Nixon- era ticket machines- make sure you keep your tik or you won't be allowed out at your stop- and listen closely for nearly non existent announcements in the stations that are 1000 feet below ground level w lighting a brothel would been ashamed of -then google NYC transit 1970's
5
How can the NYT pretend to write a serious commentary on the MTA with no mention of the disastrous effects of the unions that feed out of this trough. From absurd pay scales and work rules to unpayable pension plans, they and their enabling politician cronies are the only one in NYC that like the MTA.
42
It isn't just the unions, the politicians and the MTA are also stealing the public blind.
12
TED,
Because the problems with the MTA are pretty far from simply "the unions".
4
NYC's Subway System is a marvel of technology...for last century standards. It must do better, for sure. But from saying so to doing there is a stretch to cover. To modernize an already existent infrastructure is always more difficult than starting anew, something we must recognize. Cuomo seems too busy with his widespread obligations, diluting his attention and efforts, rendering him 'incompetent' when trying to micromanage things. We need a czar with a powerful mandate for efficiency and effectiveness, so to best allocate the by-force limited resources available, the so called politics of the deal (the art of the possible).
6
I arrive at a comments section to find that no reader has yet posted a comment. (It's 10:25 a.m.) Along with having the honor of being first, I guess must also go the less flattering distinction of being the rare individual who still thinks one is not just wasting one's breath answering a question everyone knows the answer to. The subway system has been redlined for nearly a century. How do they get away with it? Just look at who depends on the system to get to their jobs.
32
The whole system is corrupt. Any other big city and these problems would have been fixed years ago under budget. Bribes, price fixing, and awarding projects to unqualified contractors has plagued the system for years. There needs to be an accounting from the management and contractors from top down.
27
Embarrassing on all accounts. Also, not mentioned was the amount of customer disturbances...aka the homeless or mentally disturbed holding up a train. Two days ago my coworker was delayed an hour due to a disturbed gentleman cavorting on the tracks. In the video from local news I saw police escorting him out instead of arresting him. What??
11
This kind-of glosses over the fact that in the last recession funding AND service was reduced and despite the population (and income, and ridership) of the area increasing no corresponding service increases have happened and things are still not back to the same level of service they were before the 2008 problems.
But the fares keep going up and we don't see service improvements. At least there's wifi that would keep us informed, if the MTA would actually be timely with their updates, which they are not. It's lovely standing on a platform waiting for a train that won't show up for half an hour, and only get the notice that the trains are delayed because of a power outage/signal failure/ghost on the tracks and won't be resuming until you're already late for work. I think clear and constant delay communication would at least go a long way to making people less angry if they had some sort of warning that their morning was going to be ruined. Plenty can take alternate lines, busses or cars instead but the black hole of communication doesn't really let alternate plans happen until people are beyond that spot of rage that the best city in the country can't keep the trains running on time at all.
17